One Public Hearing has also been held and a second budget hearing will be on Sept. 5
KILLEEN, Texas (Aug. 18, 2023) – The City of Killeen councilmembers addressed more than two dozen questions from residents during a Town Hall on the fiscal year 2024 budget on Aug. 17.
The workshop was held at City Hall (101 North College Street) and answered citizen’s questions, ranging from more funding for road repair and Historic Downtown Killeen infrastructure and events, to questions about how funding is spent for animal services, Capital Improvement projects, Bond projects, economic development, the police department and veterans services.
The council aimed to provide citizens an additional avenue to learn what’s in the proposed budget, ask questions and provide feedback. A public hearing on the proposed budget was held on Aug. 1 and a second public hearing will be held on Sept. 5. A budget item has also been listed on the agenda for each council meeting and open for citizen comments.
The new budget is scheduled to be adopted on Sept. 12. On that date, a Tax Rate Public Hearing is also scheduled and Council will vote on adoption of ratifying the revenue increase and setting the tax rate. City Manager, Kent Cagle first presented the proposed budget to Council during the July 11 Council meeting.
Council members and the City’s executive directors from each department were in attendance and responded to all questions for the best transparency and encouraged all citizens to be engaged.
“My challenge to you…if you have not attended a council meeting, the budget will still be discussed, all the way up until September 12th,” Mayor Debbie Nash-King said to citizens. “Please go out and tell your colleagues, your friends, your neighbors to start attending our council meetings on Tuesdays at 5p.m. and stay informed.”
Council requested two items be sent to the public again (The Proposed Budget/presentations and the Management Audit), and requested staff post a document presenting all of the unfunded decision packets (department requests), which total more than $10 million. Here is where citizens can find that information:
This meeting and all city council meetings can be viewed at www.KilleenTexas.gov/CouncilMeetings. This can also be viewed on the Government Channel, Spectrum Cable 10.